


I Alone am Able to Save you

by xhiro



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-10
Updated: 2015-01-10
Packaged: 2018-03-07 01:06:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3155054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xhiro/pseuds/xhiro
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A brave face is no bulwark against calamity.</p><p>A touch of Kikuro.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Alone am Able to Save you

And in every iteration, Kuroko dazzles Kise into silence.

  
Kise would be lying if he said that it was always Kuroko. That it's only ever been Kuroko.

  
Because he underestimated Kuroko when they met. (His first mistake, in the line of many that would follow, always stumbling behind).

  
His path's only ever been paved in fool's gold, and Kuroko's always known that.

  
"Come to our school," Kise proposes, "Let's play basketball together again."

  
"No," he replies.

  
Each rejection is like the first. A painfully even voice. Eyes that betray nothing. And Kuroko is standing on one side, and Kise on another.

  
 _Will it always be like this?_ Kise wonders, but he swallows his words. Facing Kuroko like a sailboat against the great wave, but a brave face is no bulwark against calamity.

  
And the world seems to take a breath, waiting.

  
But Kise has three years, he thinks.

  
(Though he has to wonder whether Kuroko has ever looked at him, because he feels transparent.

  
He laughs, scratches the back of his neck sheepishly.

  
"I'm sorry."

  
It's not a very funny joke.)

  
The next time they meet Kise has to hold back.

  
(Their coach called him a monster. A ghost of a smile across an unreadable face.)

  
Red, black, white, and blue. Brown eyes trace this image into memory.

  
Because Kuroko's never disappeared for him, not really.

  
At least, when there was a place for him to follow.

  
It wasn't a weakness so much as an attempt to get some sort of grounding, and he was losing ground so quickly.

  
What he didn't expect was for Kuroko to evolve before his eyes. Kise can't really follow Kuroko anymore.

  
But he wishes he knew where he was going.

  
Kagami is right when he musses his hair. Kuroko is his weakness.

  
"I could have never dreamt that I would be facing Kurokocchi this way," He idles.

  
It's not so different really. They stand on opposite sides of the center circle.

  
"Me either," he replies.

  
Kise tries to move past him, but is stopped. Their perfect coordination keeps him stuck in place.

  
He can't move forward.

  
When he tries, in an instant Kuroko falls to the ground behind him instead.

  
_"Kurokocchi," he pleads after, desperately, face wan. "Kuroko." He clutches his hands together, devoutly._

  
_Kuroko looks down at him from the bench, an impassive madonna._

  
_'I'm sorry' he wants to say, but the words get caught in his throat._

  
_There's nothing left to save him from the calamities that approach._

  
_100 - 98_

  
It seems like all Kise's been doing since the middle school tournament has been losing. So it's a small respite when he gets to play with Kuroko again.

  
Kuroko shines brilliantly, and Kise is stunned to silence. How anyone could ever compare him to a shadow, Kise will never know. Kuroko is dazzling in his eyes.

  
Kise has to hold back. Restraint. There is an expression on Kagami's face and Kise has to hold back.

  
He doesn't know how it happens, but he finds himself in prayer again.

  
But Kise is a temple with no god. And he's never been one for groveling anyway.

  
When he finds himself retreating this time, back into a life of celibacy, he finds it's not a sacrifice but a return to normalcy.

  
He wasn't really meant for this life. He had his own sins to reflect on afterall.

  
"Kurokocchi," he greets a last time.

  
Spring has come early this year and the trees lining the avenue are suffused in pink.

  
"Kise-kun," he replies, a long tube tucked in his hand. Kise mirrors Kuroko's pose. But his proportions are all wrong, and it looks a little like the reflection in a distorted mirror instead.

  
Kuroko's eyes are clear and reflect nothing. Three years and Kise is no closer to understanding Kuroko than he was before, his yearning a mute protest against the impetus of time.

  
"Kurokocchi," he starts again, "Come to my school. Let's play basketball together again."

  
"No," he replies, "I don't think I will."

 

This draws a smile from Kise this time. "I didn't think you would."

  
And in every iteration, Kuroko dazzles Kise into silence.

  
Dazzling, with clear eyes like water. Pink petals scatter.

  
Years from now, Kise thinks, in some nebula far away, he will still revolve around Kuroko. Orbiting around those eyes, drawn by that brilliance.

  
Even if he were to live a thousand lives, even if he couldn't meet Kuroko over a river of stars, he would be satisfied with yearning. Yearning for him, he would reincarnate countless times. There wasn't a thread to cut since they were never connected to begin with.

  
But at least, at least he could look on and watch the pair, one butterfly chasing after the other and think,

  
What a dazzling light.

**Author's Note:**

> [Our Lady of Akita](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Akita) _is the title of Marian apparitions reported in 1973 by Sister Agnes Katsuko Sasagawa in the remote area of Yuzawadai, near the city of Akita in Japan. It continued to weep over the next 6 years on 101 occasions._
> 
> I have no idea what this is, also quite possibly the most purple thing I've ever written


End file.
